This invention relates generally to air conditioning apparatus and, more particular, it relates to apparatus for mounting and positioning the means for directing air from an air conditioning unit.
Air conditioning units are frequently employed to condition the air within a single residential room or confined space and are widely referred to as xe2x80x9croom air conditionersxe2x80x9d. Conventionally, such room air conditioners include a housing, which is mountable within an opening into a room, air conditioning means mounted within the housing, and blower means mounted within the housing for drawing air from the room into the housing through the air conditioning means for conditioning and thereby returning the thus conditioned air to the room.
Usually, only one such air conditioner is mounted in each room, with its conditioned air discharge opening positioned in the interior wall of the room to be served by the air conditioner. Because the location of the air conditioner unit is frequently dependent upon the location of available window space in the room, it is often impossible to position the unit in a location which will produce optimum distribution of the conditioned air that is discharged from it. It is well known in the art to provide the air discharge mechanisms for such units with moveable louvers which themselves are mounted in moveable louver frames. Such arrangements allow for positioning of the louvers and the louver frame to direct air to the right or left or upwardly or downwardly as desired.
The mounting for such moveable louvers and movable louver frames typically include mounting pins or the like received in openings which facilitate pivotal movement of the desired component. Such flexibility has allowed for fairly good directional control of the conditioned discharge air. It has been found, however, that in certain air conditioning units, at higher fan speeds, and those which generally have higher air flow, that the desired setting of such louvers and louver frames quite often are defeated by the flow of air acting on the louvers and the frames in an aerodynamic manner to thereby straighten out the air directing components to align them with the direction of the air flow. It is not unusual to see such air conditioning units having pieces of folded cardboard or paper wedged into the region surrounding the air directing components in order to attempt to keep them in a position which will direct air in a desired direction. It is accordingly desirable to provide an air directing apparatus, which may be readily adjusted and which will stay in the desired adjusted position with the unit subject to high volume/velocity air flow.
According to the present invention, an air conditioning unit is provided with means for defining an air discharge opening from the unit. The discharge means includes an inlet and outlet side and includes a pair of spaced apart planar walls. Each of the walls has a mounting pin formed thereon, which extends in a direction toward the other of the pair of walls such that the mounting pins together define a longitudinal axis extending therebetween. An air discharge nozzle has an inlet side and an outlet side and a pair of spaced apart substantially planar walls. The nozzle is configured to be received within the air discharge opening of the unit with the planar walls of the nozzle in closely adjacent relationship with the planar walls of the air discharge opening. Pin receiving conformations are formed on each of the planar walls of the nozzle. Each of the conformations includes an open ended slot extending into the wall from the inlet side thereof and an arcuately shaped pin receiving socket formed at the inner end of the slot. The sockets are configured to receive the mounting pins therein in a snap-fit relationship and to allow pivotal movement of the air discharge nozzle about the longitudinal axis. In a preferred embodiment, one of the side walls defining the air discharge opening includes an outwardly extending tooth-like protuberance adjacent the mounting pin and near the outlet side of the opening. The wall of the air discharge nozzle adjacent the wall carrying the pin is provided with an arcuate tooth engaging conformation thereon, which is adapted to releasably engage the tooth to allow movement of the air discharge nozzle upon imparting an external rotational force thereupon and yet holding the air discharge nozzle at a desired position upon release of the external force.